Friday, October 23, 2009 NEW DELHI: In its first test since parliamentary elections four months ago, India’s ruling Congress party on Thursday emerged victorious in the assembly elections in three crucial states of Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh. In the industrial western state of Maharashtra, the Congress retained power for a third consecutive term defeating the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance. It also swept north-eastern Arunachal Pradesh and got a slender victory in northern Haryana in the outskirts of national capital New Delhi. The Congress along with its ally the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 145 seats out of 288 in Maharashtra. The Haryana results came as a bit of a surprise for the Congress, which advanced polls by over seven months to cash in on its Lok Sabha performance, in which it had won nine out of the 10 seats. The party managed to win only 40 of the 90 seats, falling short of a simple majority. These elections were being considered the first crucial test of the popularity for major political parties after the Lok Sabha polls. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena chief Bal Thakery’s estranged nephew Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’(MNS) is seen as one of the main reasons behind the Congress’s success. Immediately after results started coming in, the opposition BJP blamed electronic voting machines (EVMs) for its defeat, saying they have become ‘Electronic Victory Machines’ for the Congress in the elections. Later, at a party’s regular briefing, the party, however, conceded defeat. It attributed loss to the discordant voices from the party disheartening its cadres and supporters. “I am conveying expectations of cadres and supporters that we will have to speak in one voice,” party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters. He said the party would have to undertake an “honest analysis” of its shortcomings and introspect by taking a complete stock of all factors. No question of shutting eyes to the reality, he affirmed.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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